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Dallas County Commissioners will vote next week on a budget that would keep the tax rate the same and add 36 employees.

General fund expenditures for next fiscal year would be $464.5 million. That’s an $8.5 million increase from last year. That new money comes from a 6 percent jump in taxable property values, the biggest increase since the recession.

The strong financial position allowed for a smooth budgeting process this year. County leaders have generally agreed to spend the bulk of the money on personnel. In addition to the new jobs created, almost all full-time employees will receive raises of about 5 percent.

Commissioners will also consider approving the tax rate at 24.31 cents per $100 valuation. That is the fifth straight year the rate has gone unchanged. Most homeowners will see their tax bill go up slightly, however, because of the growth in property values.

The average taxable value of a home in Dallas County would be $135,787. That means the average homeowner’s county taxes would be about $330.

The vote will happen at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting at 411 Elm Street.

Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia will be recognized on the field of Globe Life Park on Tuesday before the Texas Rangers’ game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Garcia is the recipient of the monthly Heroe en la Comunidad award presented by the Rangers. According to the team’s website, the honor goes to “a Hispanic community leader who has shown commitment to [the] community.” In addition to being honored before the game, the Rangers will donate $500 to a nonprofit group of her choice. Garcia has chosen the DFW International Community Alliance.

“It is always gratifying to see your efforts recognized,” Garcia said in a press release. “But I am just one of the many individuals who are working to make our community a better place. They are the real heroes.”

Farmers Branch residents cheer when the City Council votes 3-to-2 to appeal a court ruling on immigration ordinance to the U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 20, 2013.

UPDATE, 3:45 p.m.

In Farmers Branch, there’s been no dip in school attendance this Friday, according to the district spokeswoman. “Our normal average attendance is 96 percent and we are still at 96 percent,” said Angela Shelley, the spokeswoman for the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD.

The boycott today, included schools.

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A one-day boycott unrolls in Farmers Branch today to spotlight the seven-year-old fight over an immigration ordinance that’s been stalled in federal courts.

Anger percolates on both sides. Meantime in D.C. in Congress, a measure to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws sputters.

The boycott is led by Carlos Quintanilla and Victor Quezada, community activists who say they’re disgusted the City Council in this Dallas suburb voted 3-to-2 to appeal a split decision from an appellate court in which the majority of judges struck down the ordinance.

“There’s no work, no school and no shopping,” said Quezada, a small business owner who lives in Plano and was in Farmers Branch this afternoon passing out flyers.

Quintanilla said certain city leaders want to push out low-income immigrants, whether they’re in the U.S. unlawfully or lawfully. “The end game is that they want to build up-scale development,” said Quintanilla, who lives in Dallas. “They want the nice country-club crowd and not ugly apartments that immigrants live in.”

So this Friday’s event includes a vigil from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at an apartment complex near Josey Lane and Valwood Parkway.

Participation in the boycott–especially one that pulls children out of schools–remains to be seen, as my colleague reported two weeks ago here.

It’s drawn outside lawyers who have successfully fought the measure in federal courts, inspired a successful Voting Rights Act lawsuit, and brought change to the City Council with the election of the first Mexican-American.

On the other side, outside attorneys have defended the city and they emphasize the dissenting minority opinions of the judges in the recent ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Their persistence has even brought in $600,000 in financing from outsiders, including real estate heir Trammell S. Crow.

The city’s outside attorneys would like the issue determined by the U.S. Supreme Court. They include Kris Kobach, who is also the Kansas Secretary of State and a man who has written similar pieces of legislation around the nation in an attempt to challenge federal authority over immigration matters.

Farmers Branch is one of a trio of cities that have defended their measures in courts, getting closer and closer to a Supreme Court appeal. “I am the lead attorney for all three,” said Kobach in a chat earlier this week.

Kobach says the split decisions in those three cases make either the Farmers Branch or Hazleton cases ripe for picking by the Supremes.

The Supreme Court takes about 100 to 150 cases each year for review.

In early August, the council discussed the appeal before a packed crowd but took no vote. The vote on Aug. 20th came shortly past 10 p.m. in a session where police officers stepped up their presence at council chambers.

As the vote came, supporters of the appeal sprung from chairs in happiness. One man pumped his fist into the air. Crow shook hands with those thankful for his donations to the city’s legal defense fund. Donations stand at about $654,000–roughly a tenth of immigration-related expenses as calculated by the city’s finance chief.

A limited amount of meningitis vaccine for college students is available for $10 per shot at Dallas County Health and Human Services.

The vaccine is available only to uninsured students through the Adult Safety Net Program.

Those needing a shot are encouraged to get it before the limited supply runs out, said health officials.

“It’s unfortunate that more of the vaccine can’t be offered at the discounted rate,” said health director Zachary Thompson. “When we run out, no additional vaccine will be available.”

Texas law requires that new, transferring and re-enrolling students at public and private college students, who are under the age of 30, must be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis before attending class.

College students are considered at risk of contracting the potentially deadly disease because of their young age and close living quarters in school dormatories.

The bacteria can spread from person to person by coughing, sneezing, kissing and by sharing personal items such as drinking glasses and utensils.

The vaccine is being dispensed at the health department’s main building at 2377 N. Stemmons Freeway in Dallas. Clinic hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments are not necessary.

The Dallas County health department is offering free school immunizations for eligible children tomorrow, its final Saturday immunization clinic before school starts.

Dallas County Health and Human Services is offering free immunizations for school children Saturday at its main immunization clinic near downtown Dallas.

The clinic is located on the first floor of the health department’s headquarters at 2377 N. Stemmons Freeway. The shots are available from 8 a.m. to noon. Parents must bring their children’s vaccination records. Appointments aren’t necessary.

This will be the department’s final Saturday immunization clinic before school starts.

“To avoid the long lines prior to the start of school, we are encouraging parents to bring their children in now for their vaccines,” said Dr. Christopher Perkins, the county’s health authority and medical director.

Those who are elibible include newborns through 18 year-olds, who receive Medicaid, are uninsured, American Indian or Alaska native and CHIP enrollees.

Underinsured children also are eligible, defined as being a child who has commercial or private health insurance, but whose coverage does not include vaccines. Also included are children whose insurance covers only selected vaccines or a child whose insurance caps vaccine coverage at a certain amount.

Insured children with vaccine coverage are no longer eligible for the free vaccines, said county officials.

Dallas County’s six clinics also are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The immunization clinic, located in the main building, is open until 6 p.m. Wednesdays.

A medical examiner has ruled that former pro wrestler Doink the Clown, who was found unresponsive in a Plano apartment last month, died of an accidental drug overdose.

According to a report completed Thursday, the wrestler Matthew Wade Osborne, 55, “died as a result of the toxic effects of opiates.” A toxicology report indicated that he had morphine, hydrocodone, Xanax and caffeine in his system. He also had heart problems, which played a contributing factor in his death, the report said.

Police said that Osborne’s girlfriend found him in his apartment on June 28. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Osborne was famous in the early-90s as a mischievous prankster who dressed like a clown for World Wrestling Federation events. (The WWF is now known as the WWE, for World Wrestling Entertainment.) He was fired from the federation in 1996 because of a drug arrest, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Dallas may not remind anyone of Mayberry, but it’s pretty secure as far as big cities go, according to a study released Wednesday.

The study released by Farmers Insurance rated Dallas-Plano-Irving as the 10th “most secure” metropolitan area with a population over 500,000 in the United States.

According to a press release, the report took into consideration economic stability, crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, environmental hazards, life expectancy, motor vehicle fatalities and employment numbers. How those factors were weighed and how Dallas fared in each category were not disclosed.

“Some have a stable economy due to their local colleges and seats of government, and some may be fortunate that their locale is not prone to hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes,” said Bert Sperling, president of Sperling’s BestPlaces, which helped with the study, in a press release. “Although each area is different, they all possess a desirable combination of factors…that make these some of the best places to live in the United States.”

Given the rash of thunderstorms we’ve seen this spring and the regular occurrence of accidents on the highways, you’d have to think that Dallas’ economy, housing depreciation and low unemployment numbers helped the city in the rankings.

After excessive demand shut it down earlier this month, the North Central Texas Council of Governments is reopening registration for its program to help residents install a tornado safe room in their homes.

Registration for the program, which reimburses residents for up to half of the cost of a safe room, started at 1:15 a.m. on June 5, but was forced to close within hours. By 5:30 a.m. that morning, the agency had received 825 applications, even though it only expected to have funding for about 400 people.

Organizers cited the recent deadly tornadoes in Granbury and Oklahoma as the reasons for the demand. The Council of Governments decided to close the process to review the applications they had received so far. They will begin reopening applications on Friday.

The $1.4 million program is funded largely through federal grants. The Council of Governments is currently applying for more federal and state funding. The hope is that showing the government agencies the wait list will encourage them to shell out more money. But, Council of Government officials warn, it could take between three and 18 months before people on the wait list and qualified.

The program does not work retroactively, so people who buy safe rooms while on the waiting list will not be reimbursed.

In order to avoid crashing the Council of Governments’ servers, registration will be staggered by county, starting with Collin County at 7 p.m. Friday. Dallas County residents can register at 8 a.m. Saturday. Registration is done online at www.nctsaferoom.com.

Just as the U.S. Senate debates immigration policy, six immigrants were detained on Monday in Cedar Hill as part of a month-long federal investigation into the sale of fraudulent documents, said a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The immigrants were not in the U.S. lawfully, said Bryan Cox, an ICE spokesman in New Orleans. ICE didn’t provide the names of those arrested, citing the federal Privacy Act. (Under local police procedures and those of other federal law enforcement agencies, names of the arrested are typically considered public information that is promptly released.)

There was also about $200,000 seized in the ICE operation.

One source close to the immigrant community said the Cedar Hill operation was part of sting in which immigrants seemed to be set up or “baited” by another immigrant to buy documents that would take them back and forth the Mexican border to see family. The source didn’t know if the document vendor had been arrested.

Asked if it was a sting operation, the ICE spokesman said, in general, “It is common practice for federal agents to engage in undercover buys or work with informants … just like in drug cases.”

The family of one detained woman has tried to use the ICE detainee locator system to find her and no information came up four days after ICE agents detained her.

The case unfolds just as the full Senate debates the nation’s immigration policies, including a pathway to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million foreign-born living without proper immigration documents in the U.S.

This week, a group of immigrant advocates called on the Obama administration to suspend deportations for people who would benefit from the Senate immigration bill, S 744. “There is undeniable hypocrisy and a distance between the President’s rhetoric and the removal of people who would otherwise qualify for citizenship,” said Chris Newman, the legal director for National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

Meanwhile, others are calling the measure an amnesty for lawbreakers and Texas’ senators aren’t supportive of the Senate bill in its current form.

The chief executive officer of Camp Fire Lone Star is busy liquidating assets of an agency that has served the Dallas area for 100 years.

But Friday is the official last day of the agency, which was unable to recover from its loss of its United Way funding, which had sustained it for years.

The Dallas group had long ago abandoned the traditional camp fires that once defined it and, instead, had morphed in recent years into a social service outfit providing after-school programs for low-income families, as well as job placement and training initiatives.

Camp Fire Lone Star had tried to sell about $750,000 in land it owns in Cedar Hill and McKinney but once that deal fell through, De Young said, the nonprofit that began in Dallas in 1913 didn’t have enough resources to keep going.

The group’s demise leaves nearly 600 low-income kids in five apartment communities without summer programs, and De Young said she’s still trying to find nonprofits to step in and help.